1. ‘Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard. Then take a set of scales and divide up the hair.
2. When the days of your siege come to an end, burn a third of the hair inside the city. Take a third and strike it with the sword all around the city. And scatter a third to the wind. For I will pursue them with drawn sword.
3. But take a few hairs and tuck them away in the folds of your garment.
4. Again, take a few of these and throw them into the fire and burn them up. A fire will spread from there to all Israel.
5. ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: this is Jerusalem, which I have set in the centre of the nations, with countries all around her.